Shear Flow

BioFlux Plates

No Messy Tubes, No Time Consuming Washing or Sterilization

BioFlux plates are arrays of microfluidic flow cells embedded at the bottom of SBS-format well plates. The BioFlux pressure interface couples to the top of the well plate and applies a controlled pneumatic pressure from the control instrument to the top of the wells. This drives the fluid through the channels at a user-defined flow rate. Due to the positive air pressure delivered by the interface, we remove the need to have fluid-filled tubing delivering the fluids. Instead, the whole experiment happens in the plate. There’s no cleanup necessary – no messy tubes, no time consuming washing or scrubbing – just dispose of the well plate.

BioFlux plates come in 6-well, 24-well, and 48-well formats. Each plate format requires its own interface, and they are available separately if not purchased originally with the system.

BioFlux Plate Design
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Plate Specifications

Standard Glass Bottom

The standard cover slip glass bottom is wonderful for high resolution live cell imaging. The bottom of the channels are comprised of 170 µm coverslip glass which make them compatible with brightfield, phase, fluorescence and confocal microscopy.

GLASSBOTTOM
silicone

All Silicone Bottom

Polydimexylsiloxane (PDMS) is a key component of many medical devices due to superior biocompatibility and material stability. The formation of bacterial biofilms on these surfaces is an active area of research, due to the high importance of biofilms in medical device infections. The silicone bottom plates feature all-PDMS flow channels to address this need, and enable a full range of experimental protocols utilizing silicone substrates. Catheter infections can be modeled using primary media including human urine with BioFlux PDMS bottom plates. Requires a 48-well BioFlux interface for operation.

Custom Bottom Plate

Custom substrate plates feature the ability to add any material to the bottom of microfluidic flow chambers, and enable a full range of experimental protocols utilizing custom substrates. Schematic comparison of the traditional BioFlux plates (A) and the new custom substrate plate (B). While the traditional plates were developed to ensure immediate compatibility with a majority of imaging systems, the new consumables maintain optical access while providing a the user with a fully customizable growth surface. Requires a 48-well BioFlux interface for operation.
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Plates for the BioFlux shear flow systems are available in a wide variety of well sizes, flow rate capabilities, and substrate coatings.  Download the BioFlux plate selection guide to find the perfect plate for your experimental needs. 

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Plate Formats

48 low Shear

48-well Low Shear Plate

The 48-well low shear plate can run up to 20 dyne/cm². With one inlet well and one outlet well per experimental channel, up to 24 assays can be run on one plate. The high number of experimental channels makes it ideally suited for testing larger sets of conditions, such as compound screening or genetic variants. Requires a 48-well BioFlux interface for operation.

48-well High Shear Plate

The 48-well high shear plate is excellent for experiments that need higher shear flow. Again, each experimental channel has one inlet and one outlet, making 24 assays on one plate. The channels have been designed to reach a maximum wall shear stress of 200 dyne/cm² making them suited for platelet adhesion and aggregation assays, as well as other high shear applications. Requires a 48-well interface for operation.

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24wellformat
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24-well Low Shear Plate

The 24-well plate format is a low shear plate (up to 20 dyne/cm²). It features 8 experimental channels, each with two input wells that are controlled independently. Both inlet wells can also run simultaneously, creating two parallel liquid streams with a gradient at the juncture. Ideally suited for migration/invasion, wound healing, chemotactic gradients, compound screening. Requires a 24-well BioFlux interface for operation.

6 Well Low Shear Plate

With shear flow up to 60 dyne/cm² and 3 assays per plate, this format is suitable for long-term culturing experiments that don’t need high throughput. Requires a 6-well BioFlux interface for operation (BioFlux 1000HT interface only).

BioFlux 6 well plate
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BioFlux 200+

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910 0033
910 0050B
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910 0050
910 0120
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Plate Types for BioFlux 1000HT

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910 0048
910 0047
910 0051
910 0120
910 0050B
910 0050B